


Get In The TV Yosuke

by Joniness



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Mystery, New Game+ AU, POV Hanamura Yosuke, Saki Lives, Tags May Change, The rest of the characters are here too they're just not the mains so I didn't tag them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28481847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joniness/pseuds/Joniness
Summary: “Uh you told me we’re here to save a woman from being murdered, not to shop!”“Have you gone to the bathroom?” Yu asked, catching Yosuke off-guard for the millionth time today.“Yeah I went before I left, why do you-” Yosuke said before Yu sent him careening right into-- the TV?
Relationships: Hanamura Yosuke/Narukami Yu
Comments: 19
Kudos: 90





	1. Chapter 1

4:36 PM, April. 11 2011

**So I herd u liek Saki**

Yosuke looks down at the text from an unknown number, frozen mid apron removal. A weary cashier walks into the break room then right back out again seeing the expression on the Prince of June’s face. The prince doesn’t particularly notice, he shrugs off the rest of the apron and plops down on the bench to reply.

4:37PM **_uh who r u & how did u get my #?_**

Sweet, simple, doesn’t address the immediate leverage this unknown number has on him. He gets a near instant reply.

4:37PM **I remmberd it**

Yosuke face pinches. He can already tell he has someone annoying on his hands.

4:38 PM _**tht doesn’t answer my first ?**_

4:38PM **answer mine 1st dude lol**

Yosuke massages his temples. The headache brought on by being called into work on his day off only to be there for like an hour before being sent off exacerbated now. He might as well come clean.

4:39PM _**yeah i like saki, happy now?**_

4:39 PM **there’s something really important i have to tell u about her asap**

And then another text right after, did they have that in their drafts?

4:39 PM **we dont have much time, i will explain in person, r u in? If u dont ill tell everyone u like saki**

Yosuke’s stomach drops. What were they talking about??? Did this stranger really expect him to just, meet up with them like this? Was Saki in danger? Wait, is he being black mailed now??

“Son, can you please text your friends when you’re not at the work place?” Mr.Hanamura asks, startling Yosuke, he looks up and sees the crossed arms which pales him even more.

“Yeah, sorry!” Yosuke says, leaping up to his feet and snapping his phone shut. Mr.Hanamura nods before walking out of the room. Yosuke knows he hasn’t gone far though (his shift ends waaay later) so he lets autopilot bring him through the end of the day routine.exe as he mulls over what to say.

He ends up at his beat up bike and unlocking it as he makes up his mind. He leans against the bike rack checking for further texts (none) and sends something he’s probably going to regret.

4:44 PM _**im in, what do i do?**_

\---

Yosuke isn’t really certain what he expected when he pulled up to a small unassuming house. A bar or maybe a shady warehouse? He became less sure of any of these as he biked further into suburbia but, still. This was the address no matter how he looked at it. It took him a good 20 minutes to get here which he thought was pretty good time not being that familiar with Inaba. He saw a flash of a face through the window then the door of the home opened. He had no time to hide before an uncle-looking man appeared from behind it.

“Ah, hey, you’re the Hanamura kid, I should’ve figured when Yu said he knew you from the city, I’m Ryotaro Dojima, by the way.” The man who called himself Dojima said. He seemed friendly enough but Yosuke was on edge. He opened his mouth to respond but not before another voice called out.

“Hey Yosuke, long time no see partner!” A gray haired boy around his age stepped out from around Dojima and.. honest to god walked all the way up to him and gave him a big hug. Yosuke couldn’t even believe it. Dojima didn’t look like he quite knew what was going on either, not that Yosuke looked at him for long, averting his eyes with embarrassment. People didn’t just.. hug each other in Japan, especially not men. Was this guy from another planet?

“Just play along.” The gray haired boy whispered in Yosuke’s ear. Yosuke was not even sure how he caught that, he was so shocked. The hug mercifully ended but Yosuke was not looking anywhere but his feet.

“Uhh--err, hey, you-you’re the same as ever I see, uhh--” Yosuke stammered, choking on the part where he’d call this person by their name.

“Just call me partner like you always do, Yosuke. No need to be shy! Anyway, all of this to say… This is actually my uncle and it turns out I’m going to be living in Inaba with you for the next year! Isn’t that great? By the way, sorry to surprise you, I just wanted to see the look on your face, but I guess I should have let you know.” The gray haired boy said. Yosuke finally looked up (right, this guy was like, taller than him) and saw a serene smile. It was so perfect that Yosuke almost forget that it was pure acting.

“Y-yeah…” Yosuke managed to get out. Dojima cleared his throat, clearly tired of being around... Whatever was happening here.

“Yu told me you’d probably want to show him around town, you two should probably do that before it gets too dark. And don’t take him on your bike, that’s illegal.” Dojima said gruffly. Yosuke would be a little impressed that he acted normally after.. “Yu’s” display of (affection?) if his heart wasn’t still hammering from the stress of it all.

“Yesss uncle…” Yu sing songed before practically dragging Yosuke away. Dojima shook his head and headed back in the house. They rounded a corner and Yu’s hand abruptly dropped away. His expression completely changed to something neutral and cold.

“There is going to be a murder tonight if we do not stop it.” Yu said, lowly enough that only Yosuke could hear.

What?!... was what Yosuke wanted to say but Yu whipped out his hand and clapped it over Yosuke’s mouth. This guy!

“Keep it down, people around here are always listening. Let’s get going and I’ll answer your questions” Yu said in the same even tone as he removed his hand. He then walked right back and retrieved the bike. Yosuke took a deep breath, something about how seriously this guy was acting, this can’t be a joke… Wait, Yu was getting on the bike like he was going to be the one riding it.

“Uh that’s my bike, can’t I at least be the-”

“No. Get on before I leave you with all your questions unanswered.” Yu stated in a way that brooked no argument. Yosuke clambered onto the bike with no choice but to set his hands on Yu’s shoulders.

“Who are you? What’s going on?” He asked when they finally were able to stop wobbling dangerously through the back streets.

“I’m Yu Narukami. There’s a famous woman staying at the Amagi inn that will be murdered tonight if we don’t help her.” Amagi inn, famous woman… Wait that has to be!

“Mayumi Yamano?” Yosuke whispered. Yukiko made an off-hand comment about it the other day when he was totally not eavesdropping on her and Chie. But, what did she have to do with Saki?

“Yes, she’s going to be murdered by someone trying to be her police guard.” Yu said.

“Wait, the police is in on this?” Yosuke seriously doubted a small town police’s capacity to keep a murder of a high profile woman from coming to light.

“Just one of them. Detective Tohru Adachi.” Yu said, like it was a fact and not that he wasn’t accusing one of Yosuke’s regular customers of attempted murder.

“Wait, stop, stop, stop!” Yosuke balked. When Yu didn’t stop Yosuke’s grip on Yu’s shoulders tightened and he shook. The bike veered dangerously near the flood plain bank but apparently Yu was an implacable god and quickly course corrected.

“Hey-we’re going to crash if you keep doing that.” Yu said, voice wobbling, but only from Yosuke’s attempts to stop their one way ticket to crazytown.

“Then stop already.” Yu sighed and braked. Yosuke jumped off as soon as he safely could and only stumbled a little before whipping around to glare at Yu. Yu didn’t get off the bike, he turned his head over his shoulder to face Yosuke.

“Where did you get all this information from?” Yosuke demanded.

“I’m psychic.” Yu said. If Yosuke somehow wasn’t seeing red before he could see it now.

“Just how stupid do you think I am?!” Yosuke yelled.

“Yosuke, I know you’re not stupid. No one would get on a bike with a stranger they just met if they didn’t have a reason. You're just bored.” Yu said like he didn’t have someone yelling at him. Like he didn’t say something that made Yosuke freeze in his tracks. That… that can’t be true.

“How-wa-you’re saying I’m bored enough to follow some stranger around to-to pretend like we’re going to stop the guy who buys our entire cabbage stock everyday from murdering a woman?” It was just impossible. There was no way this could happen. Not in Inaba. And Yosuke wasn’t some idiot bored enough to play along with this!

“Yes. You live in a very small town and people have been irritating to you at best and hostile at worst. Anyone would be bored and miserable in that situation. I have been there too.” Yu said with absolute conviction. Yosuke just stared, anger already starting to dissipate just from the sheer confusion. How on earth did Yu have such an accurate read on him?

“I should call the police.” Yosuke sighed with the last of his frustration, throwing out whatever ability to control the situation he had. He couldn’t even deny what Yu said.

“For what?” Yu said.

“Blackmail and theft.” Yosuke pointed out. Yu pretended to think about it.

“Then you should have called them earlier. Why didn’t you? I think you already know the answer.” Yu had him there.  
“...How do you even know me? How do you know all this stuff about me? And what does this have to do with Saki?” Yosuke asked.

“Like I said, psychic. We don’t have any more time, the longer we wait the more likely we’ll find a corpse instead of Mayumi. Get on.” Yu said then turned his head to look at the road as he waited.

Yosuke got on the bike.

\---

“Why aren’t we going to the inn?” Yosuke asked, noticing that they seemed to be going back the way he had come from Junes.

“We are going to find her at Junes.” Yu said.

“Seriously?”

“Yes. Hopefully alive… I don’t know what her time of death was.”

“You really think we might find a dead body?”

“...Maybe.”

“I hope you’re right about this… partner.”

“Partner?”

“You told me to call you that!”

“Oh... I did. Totally.”

“You’re so weird.”

“We’re here.”

The Junes superstore loomed before them, people were still coming in and out despite it being nearly night at this point. None of the local shops downtown would still be open now. Yu took them to the bike rack and Yosuke locked it up with his key.

“We’re going to the electronics department.” Yu said, making a bee line there like he had been to this place before. He likely had, since all Junes stores had basically the same layout.

“She’s going to be murdered there?”

“Kinda. You’ll see.”

No matter how Yosuke looked at it the department was completely empty. He thought he saw someone at first but that was just the cardboard cut-out of Misuzu Hiiragi. It struck Yosuke as a little tonedeaf that the cut-out was still there despite all the news. Just goes to show how little people in this town were interested in wide-screen TVs. Well, except for Yu, who was standing in front of the largest model in the store. Yosuke walked up to him. Yu didn’t look away from the TV..

“Uh you told me we’re here to save a woman from being murdered, not to shop!”

“Have you gone to the bathroom?” Yu asked, catching Yosuke off-guard for the millionth time today.

“Yeah I went before I left, why do you-” Yosuke said before Yu sent him careening right into-- the TV? He flinched, bracing for impact but none came and his feet seemed like they were off the ground for far far too long before he rolled along the ground, bruising in places he had never bruised before. Disorientated, he tried to scramble to his feet.

“What did you do that-... for…” Yosuke trailed off, his question fading for a completely new and more pressing question. He looked around, seeing fog and..what could only be vaguely described as a TV set. He heard a sound behind him and spun to see Yu getting to his feet.

“Where are we?”

“Not Junes.”

“I can tell that!”  
“Try not to panic. We’re in another world right now.”

“Is-is this psychic stuff?”

“Yes. Now follow me and I’ll explain. Try to talk very very loudly as well.”

“Where’s the exit?!” 

“Yes, like that.”


	2. Chapter 2

“So, we’re in another world where entities called Shadows exist that are the manifestations of the human psyche and if a real person is put in here they could be torn apart and killed then their body shows up in the real world strung up on antennas?”

“Yes.”

“And you put ME in here BECAUSE?”

“You can do something to help me.”

“Dude I don’t know how to fight, do I look like I’m made of muscle?!”

“No, but you have your own charms.”

“Dude wha- we could die here from what you’re saying!”

“Mayumi will definitely die if we don’t stop the Shadows.”

“...What am I supposed to do?”

“Just watch, for now.”

“Watch you do what exactly? I’m still not clear on the whole Persona thing you kept mentioning.”

“Shh.” Yu said, not unkindly as he stopped his brisk walk. He motioned Yosuke to stop too.

Behind them they could hear a rhythmic... squeaking? And it was getting closer. Yosuke started but Yu caught his sleeve.

“Stop.” Yu said. A shadowy and strangely round and top heavy form emerged from behind them as the squeaking got louder.

“But, you said there are Shadows here!” Yosuke whispered near hysterically, hand unconsciously clinging onto Yu’s.

“Yes, but wait.” Yu said.

“Hello?” Came a high-pitched unfamiliar voice as a person who was clearly wearing some kind of colorful mascot costume approached.

“Hello!” Yu greeted brightly, now leading Yosuke to the.. Bear? The stranger seemed surprised and stepped back a bit.

“I’m Yu Narukami and this is my friend Yosuke Hanamura!” Yu introduced, holding up Yosuke’s hand in indication. Yosuke snatched his hand back once Yu lowered it again. Yu didn’t seem to notice, his eyes rapt on the stranger who shifted from side to side uncertainly.

“I’m… Teddie. What are you doing here?” The stranger, Teddie (like a teddie bear?) asked, their voice seemed a bit raspy. Yosuke relaxed a little, they clearly weren’t an immediate threat and it was hard to stay wary of someone who had shoes that squeaked when they took a step.

“We had to step in to help someone that got lost in here. We know how scary this place can be and are worried about her.” Yu said. Yosuke wondered if Yu had ~*psychic visions*~ about Teddie as well, he seemed to know just how to handle the situation.

“Someone’s… lost? Here? Oh noooo! That isn’t any good.” Teddie said with clear despair, paws clutching the head of his suit. Yosuke noted that he took what Yu said at face value and the mascot suit.. If he thought Yu was weird, well, Teddie seemed weirder for sure.

“Yeah it’s horrible, someone put her here and she’s scared and alone, do you know where she is?” Yu asked gently.

“No, I haven’t seen anyone.” Teddie shook his head with his whole body.

“Have you smelled anyone?” Yu asked, as if that wasn’t a complete non sequitur.

“Oh, I can do that! We can find her with my nose.” Teddie said, as if what Yu had said made logical sense in this situation and that people can be found with human noses.

“Really?” Yosuke blurted out. It seemed very unlikely that someone could smell anything past a meter away with all the fog muffling the senses. Teddie put his paws on where Yosuke’s best guess was his hips.

“Yeah, this sniffer is the best around here. I can find a lot of things!” Teddie proclaimed tapping the black triangle on his suit. Yosuke wondered how he could smell anything except himself in there before giving up on refuting this. Yu seemed to know what was up.

“Might as well go with the flow.” He shrugged. Yu smiled at that and gave Teddie a thumbs up.

Yu explained some information about Mayumi as they went so Teddie could “more accurately smell her out”. Yosuke wondered if Yu was some kind of Mayumi fanboy with the amount of knowledge he had on her beyond the recent news about her husband’s affair. Teddie seemed particularly interested in her beauty given he picked up his pace significantly after learning about that. Yosuke, unfortunately spent most of his time watching his feet trying not to trip in the thick fog which became harder after Teddie started going faster and far enough ahead he could barely be seen. Yu noticed.

“Teddie, before we continue can you make us both a pair of glasses? We can’t see very well in the fog.” Yu requested. Teddie stopped with a particularly loud squeak.

“Coming right up!” Teddie chirped. He seemed to wiggle around a bit then Yosuke heard a distinctive ZIP and subsequent un-ZIP. He turned around and presented them with… vaguely glasses shaped items.

“Don’t give me that look, it’s the best a bear can do on short notice!” Teddie groused upon seeing Yosuke’s face.

“It’s not the workmanship that I’m shocked by here.” He said, gingerly placing them on his face. Well, they seemed to stay on his nose and he could see a lot better through them even if he couldn’t really call them glasses. He looked over at Yu, the glasses made Yu’s eyes look so comically far apart he had to laugh.

“Hey, you don’t look any better than me right now.” Yu pointed out, and even with the silly glasses on Yosuke could tell the smile on his face was reaching his eyes.

\---

Teddie lead them to a corridor that just seemed to appear out of the fog. It was like one moment they were walking along the bizarre print of the TV set flooring and the next they were suddenly outside an apartment building but… fuzzy, looking anywhere else down the corridor was indistinct, like the black static when you close your eyes except with sickly fog.

“This is where the smell is!” Teddie said, pointing at a… door? It didn’t look like any door Yosuke had seen before due to the swirling red and black emanating from just behind the frame. They all approached. Yu all but ran to it. He touched the frame and glanced behind without even giving Yosuke a chance to stop him.

“C’mon, Mayumi’s waiting.” He said, disappearing behind the swirls, their meandering pattern disrupted with the intrusion.

“Should I go too?” Teddie asked. Yosuke had to bite down his temptation to ask Teddie the same thing.

“I dunno, he never asked you to come with.”  _ Like he did with me _ Yosuke finished mentally.

“I-I’m going to go with you guys! I can’t BEAR the thought of a pretty lady dying here!” Teddie shoved past Yosuke and scrambled into the door. Then Yosuke was alone.

Yosuke stared at it uselessly. Yu had mentioned that there was no exit to this place except through a method he didn’t elaborate on, quick to move onto the next bit of information. Yosuke couldn’t not go through. He had no way out and it was all his fault because of his impulsive decisions. He had had plenty of options to remove himself from this situation before he could no longer turn back.

He looked down to his feet if only to get his gaze away from the door. There was a white flash of paper between his shoes. He sat back on his haunches to get a closer look. It was a plain letter addressed to Mayumi Yamano with no return address. He wondered if she had more mail in the real world and if she would ever get the chance to read them.

Right, this wasn’t about him. He pocketed the letter, brushed himself off, and stepped through the door.

\---

“Dude… chair and rope… that kind of arrangement is never good.” Yosuke managed to say upon entering… wherever this hellscape of torn posters and splattered red and yellow paint was. Teddie was a few paces away in a cowering stance looking immediately regretful about his decisions. He was also as far away from the noose set up as he could be. He turned to look at Yosuke.

“Sensei went ahead up those stairs! He told me to wait for you to follow him and he’ll clear a path in the meantime.”

“Sensei?”

“Yeah Yu-Sensei is really strong, these Shadows here are no push-overs!” Teddie said. Yosuke didn’t respond, looking towards the “stairs” which looked like a traditional Japanese stair cabinet except absolutely massive in scale. And covered in paint. He tentatively stepped in one of the red splatters just before the first step and it smeared. Wet paint. He hoped. He noted there were already shoeprints from Yu.. but there also appeared to be another set of prints. They seemed human in width but where the heel would be was a tiny dot. Oh, these were prints from someone wearing heels. Yosuke tried to swallow his fear and took the first step.

“Let’s not leave him alone for long.” Yosuke said as he ascended the stairs, quickly, before he lost his nerve again.

“Oooohhh wait for me~” Teddie called after with a patter of squeaks.

Yosuke found himself in a long corridor littered with the same tattered poster of Misuzu Hiiragi and the same paint splatter. Yu had explained that these “dungeons” were a reflection of the mental state of whoever had found themselves in the TV world. Yosuke got the feeling Mayumi was not particularly mentally stable at the moment. Teddie stayed close as Yosuke followed Yu’s steps at a jog. He sure as hell was not going to be going to go through any of the unassuming doors they found along the way. Aside from Teddie’s bizarre costume and Yosuke’s slightly damp footsteps they couldn’t hear anything as they padded through the area. The silence was so unnerving Yosuke wished he had his headphones with him. They ascended another flight of stairs and were halfway around a corner when they heard “Persona!”.

Yosuke wasn’t quite sure what he saw. There was a monster, first of all. It was lion-like but far larger than any lions Yosuke had seen at the zoo. It was also very dark in coloration, trailing chains from around it’s mane leading to a decorative but sturdy ball which did nothing to stop it barreling towards Yu with fangs bared. Yu simply stood there, hand up and clasping some kind of bright light.

“Izanagi!” He yelled as large humanoid figure appeared out of him and with a swing of it’s sword dropped the lion to the ground. The lion tried to struggle to its feet but the figure swung again and suddenly it was no more. Literally both the figure and the lion disappeared. Yu turned his head slightly to acknowledge them with a nod then promptly jogged around a corner.

“Wow, Sensei is so cool!” Teddie gushed as he ran past Yosuke with his stubby little legs. Yosuke shook himself and followed. No wonder Yu was vague on the details, this was a lot to explain.

\---

Yosuke ended up spending the next who knows how long watching Yu destroy otherworldly creatures with “Izanagi” and Teddie somehow get paint all over what must have been a very expensive costume. He also noted that there was no way a real building could be constructed in the way this one was. With the meandering corridors and 4 right turns that didn’t lead into the place they came from it was certain this was an impossible area that could only exist as a concept. Yet, here they were, real humans exploring the tattered halls designed by the psyche of a female 27 year old disgraced newscaster who was really pissed off at an enka singer. They didn’t really talk as Yu was very busy mowing down whatever was in their way to the destination. Which was apparently at the top of this “palace” as Yu called it. Teddie tried his best to “direct” Yu regardless. Though Yosuke wasn’t certain if Yu needed any of that with how efficiently the shadows disappeared. He wondered why he was even here as he watched Izanagi’s black robe sway violently to and fro with his quick slashing motions. He turned his attention to Yu who did not look as tired as he thought he should be. Yu gave him a wink which Yosuke grimaced at comically. The gray haired boy turned away with a smile. Hey, at least someone here was confident they weren’t going to be hanging from the antennas by morning.

They knew they had found the last area when they could see a giant entrance as their heads peaked over the floor. The heel prints they had been following lead up to a door that also doubled as storage for medicines, like what you’d see in an apothecary. There were hundreds of tiny little compartments with difficult kanji on the labels. It might have been Chinese for all Yosuke knew. It was all split down the middle with a gold line and at around elbow height there was a thin door handle which did not open the door when it was tried. Yu sighed and started opening compartments one by one. He pointed Yosuke to the right side of the door to indicate he also should start searching.

“Sensei what should I do?” Teddie asked. Yu pondered for a moment.

“See if there’s anything else in this room besides this door and keep watch for Shadows.” He answered. Teddie saluted and started his search in a way Yosuke could only describe as overdramatic.

“Didn’t get a psychic vision of how to open this huh?” Yosuke said as he looked at a dubious white powder.

“I don’t know everything that happens.” Yu said while cautiously lifting some mysterious leaf out of the compartment for inspection.

“When do you see these things anyway? Do they happen in your sleep or something?”

“No, I… these visions are new, I started having the ones about Mayumi on the train earlier today.”

“Whoa.. so you saw her get murdered today? I’m sorry man.”

“I… didn’t see her get murdered.”

“What? Then how did you know she-”

“I saw Adachi tell me what he did to her. He laughed about it.” Yu said, his expression looked sickened.

“Oh…” Yosuke had nothing to say to that. Something about Yu's expression told him it would be better not to ask for more details. They continued working through the compartments in uneasy silence with only the clack of the little drawers being opened and closed and Teddies footsteps to break it. Speaking of Teddie, he returned to them, downtrodden and empty handed.

“Ohh I can’t find anything Sensei... Hey, what’s that?” Teddie asked, pointing a gloved hand at a small flap near the bottom of the door.

“It looks like a mail slot.” Yu said, looking relieved that the awkwardness was broken.

“Huh, you’d think a mail slot would be at the… main entrance…” Yosuke trailed off, already unveiling the letter in his pocket.

“Where did you find that?” Yu asked, getting up close to read the address.

“Just before the swirly door, do you think I should-”

“Yes.”

“I mean, it’s not a key or anything.”

“Here, it might be.” Well, Yosuke wasn’t really going to argue. He slipped the envelope in the slot. The door made an audible click. Yu was already on the handle before Yosuke could process it. Teddie cheered as the door opened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Teddie! I hope I did him justice for all the Teddie fans out there. Once again, let me know if there's any problems of any kind like grammar/formatting/dialogue/etc. I have more written out that I will be editing and posting. A beta reader would also be neat so drop by my tumblr @ joniness.tumblr.com if you're interested.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

The cheering stopped abruptly because there wasn’t anything good behind that door.

Specifically, a woman lay prone in a puddle of red, her body looking badly injured. Looming above her was, well, Yosuke wouldn’t call this a woman too, it being big enough to hold him in it’s claws and all, but a distinctly feminine form wearing a kimono with long long sleeves. It was absolutely splattered with paint, particularly on it’s face where it seemed to be caked on so thick that if it had eyes Yosuke wouldn’t be able to tell. Peeking above the collar of it’s kimono was a mess of red strings tied tightly around its neck with trails leading back to a wall covered in those little compartments identical to the ones at the door. It appeared to be lounging and writing on Mayumi with a paintbrush, not in a particularly careful way either judging by the paint streaking it’s long nails.

It turned its head up from its work and at them before opening its mouth to let out a distorted laugh that echoed around the high walls of the room. Yosuke, stunned, could only watch as Yu took off running towards it.

“I am a shadow… The true self…” It’s voice reverberated in Yosuke’s ears to the point where he felt dizzy. Teddie crouched and cowered, holding his stubby arms up to where the costume’s ears are.

“Izanagi!” Yu yelled as he leaped over Mayumi’s body to get in between her and the monster. The robed figure sprang out of him as he called for “cleave”. The shadow took the hit to the obi but recovered quickly to ready it’s paintbrush.

“I’ll show you who is the better woman for him…” It chuckled as it swatted at Yu with the paintbrush. He ducked out of the way but the paintbrush nearly hit Mayumi as it struck the ground with a heavy wet thump which sprayed red paint onto her face. Yosuke saw Yu grimace, clearly also realizing that fact and moving into the disadvantageous position in front of Mayumi again. Izanagi came out to weakly chop at it’s string tied neck but did not make much headway.

“C’mon, let me make you into something newsworthy.” The monster crooned, lunging for Yu again. He dodged. Once again the paintbrush slammed down around Mayumi, this time a mere inches away from her head. Yu was showered with droplets, he wiped the red paint away from his lens as he got back in front of Mayumi. Yosuke looked at Yu’s face smeared with red and saw genuine fear. Not for himself but for Mayumi. He had to do something! He took off running towards the puddle of red paint.

“Hmm, I guess you’re right, the news already has this bitch to paint a fool out of.” The shadow said, this time making it’s attack on Mayumi. Yu jumped into the hit with a sickening crunch as the paintbrush shattered into wooden splinters and the blow sent him right into Yosuke’s arms.

“Ugh! Now things will have to get messy and they were already messy enough!” The shadow lamented, taking its nails and delicately dabbing them into the muddy paint on its face then swatching them on the ground.

“Yosuke, run away.” Yu hissed through the hurt, snapping Yosuke’s attention away from the shadow. Yosuke wished he had the energy to feel incredulous at the battered teen in his arms.  
“No-hear me out- I have a plan.” Yosuke said and pointed to the compartment strings. “Go there and cut them down, uh, if you can stand that is. Now.”  
Yu nodded then staggered to his feet. He ran off surprisingly quickly for someone who seemed to have broken ribs. Yosuke stepped into the puddle of red paint (doing his best to ignore the massive shadow absorbed in color theory) and gathered Mayumi at the shoulders. He noted she still appeared to be warm. He pressed the back of her head solidly into his chest and started dragging her backward, the motion dislodging one of her heels.

“Wait, where are you taking my canvas?!” The shadow shrieked as he barely cleared the paint puddle. Whatever blood was left in Yosuke face drained and he shivered as her claws reached out to him.

“Izanagi!” Cried out Yu and a large swath of red strings were cut from the compartment handles. The shadow cried out in pain and turned back to face the gray haired boy to swat at him in anger. Yosuke took the opportunity to drag Mayumi even further back, with a speed he didn’t think he was capable of before.

“Yosuke, I found that letter-” Teddie said from behind him.

“Now’s not the time Teddie!” He gritted, muscles screaming with exertion. He was so focused on pulling away Mayumi he got surprised when his back hit the door. He collapsed and Mayumi’s head lolled to the side then started to involuntarily cough. Teddie looked at her face in worry. Yosuke extricated himself from her quickly.

“Teddie, take care of her.” He said, charging off to the puddle again. The shadow had shifted it’s pose, now on it’s knees leaning down smacking at where Yu was still cutting down strings. He looked like he’d taken another blow when Yosuke wasn’t looking and he wasn’t dodging nearly as gracefully. He had to distract her from him somehow...

“That’s all she’s good for, y’know, letting other people paint what they’d like to see onto her!” Wailed the shadow, pounding down on the ground, the gust of wind from her long sleeves pushing Yu back until he found himself in the corner. It cackled seeing the pest in a bad position raising one of her arms up as the other kept Yu from fleeing.

“Hey, ugly! Try fitting into this!” The lost heel pelted the back of its head and fell into its collar. It snarled, whipping around to focus its attention on Yosuke again.

“He told me I am beautiful! I had to make sure those words were only for ME!” It lashed out, arm low to the ground and so long Yosuke could not possibly outrun it. He fell straight backward, splashing into the puddle of paint trying to be as horizontal as possible so the arm only grazed him but even a graze of it’s mighty arm sent him rolling and choking in agony as he accidentally inhaled the crimson acrylic. With effort he propped up onto his elbow and with his one lens that wasn’t covered looked for the next attack.

“He has to love only me!” Another low strike from the other side of the room was coming and he wasn’t sure he could take another.

“Izanagi!” Called Yu once more, and the shadow screamed with the last of the strings being cut. It took its hands to its neck, writhing around on the ground in pain so intense its back arched. The strings slowly disappeared and the knot at its neck came undone. It flipped over, dripping paint profusely from around the collar of the kimono.

“I am nothing without him…”It cried in sorrowful rage, removing its hand from its neck to try to reach out to Yosuke. Just as the claws were at his feet its other hand lost control of whatever was hidden by the strings before. At first it looked like it was just bowing but with horror Yosuke realized it’s head had fallen off. Oozing paint from the neck wound, the rest of the body of the monster slumped over then disappeared in a burst of light. Yosuke lost the strength in his arm and his face met the floor in a splat of paint.

“Yosuke!” Yu called, limping over to where Yosuke lay coughing. He rolled Yosuke over and into his lap, dislodging Yosuke’s glasses in the process.

“Are you ok?” Yu asked. Yosuke looked up and what he saw had him turning to hack red onto Yu’s pants and wheeze pitifully.

“Yosuke?” Yu pleaded.

“S-sorry it’s just.. you’re still wearing those stupid glasses...” Yosuke finally choked out. It really hurt to laugh.

“I was about to say sorry that I can’t heal you but I think you’re fine.” Yu said flatly. Yosuke opened his mouth to reply but he heard a ripping sound.

They both turned their attention to Mayumi, now conscious, leaning onto Teddie heavily and tearing up a piece of paper in front of another, more translucent, Mayumi. The translucent version of her nodded as the shredded paper fell to the floor and stepped towards her in a curl of light. It passed through her and spread out from her back. A beautiful figure manifested above her clad in a kimono similar to the shadow but with an obi made of tightly bound red string that trailed ethereally back to Mayumi. It disappeared as she fell so far back into Teddie he rolled over completely onto his back, legs flailing to find purchase. Mayumi slid to the floor, completely passed out. Yosuke felt a peculiar sensation and touched his hand to his face, taking it away to see the paint had vanished.

“Was that, a Persona?” He asked Yu, who was also clear of paint now.

“Yes, she accepted her Shadow and now it is a part of her again.” Yu said in a way that struck Yosuke as reverent. He had to admit, whatever he saw, it was magical.

It was hard to process that magical moment though when Teddie was rolling around trying to right himself. Yosuke could only stand so much of this turtle act before he extracted himself from Yu. Yu didn’t look like he was in any hurry at all to move. Not that he could blame him with all the hits the guy took.

“You can’t even take off that damn costume to help her? Get some priorities man.” Yosuke grumbled as he went to unzip Teddie so he could get off his back.

“Hey, wai-”Teddie cried and Yosuke unzipped him to reveal… no one inside. Yosuke took a step back in surprise.

“Whoa! What the hell are you…? It’s empty inside…” He exclaimed. Teddie zipped himself up again frantically.

“I..I-” Teddie stammered, still stuck on the floor.

“Teddie is Teddie. Don’t worry about it. Lets get Mayumi out of here.” Yu interrupted as he picked himself up. It was not without visible pain.  
“You’re right... Sorry Teddie.” Yosuke apologized as he pulled Teddie up from the ground. Teddie gave a sigh of relief.

\---

Yu and Yosuke ended up carrying Mayumi’s unconscious body out of the palace because apparently they were the only ones with bones.

“This is why I brought you along.” Yu said after Yosuke grumbled about his aching muscles for the 5th time.

“Wait, I was just here to be a pack mule?” Yosuke whined.

“Well, you did help with the boss too.” Yu relented. Yosuke quirked his brow. The boss?

“Huh, that was like a boss from a video game wasn’t it?” Yosuke said. In that case, was he an NPC or a playable character?

“What’s a boss?” Asked Teddie. Teddie was definitely an NPC.

“Big strong baddie.” Answered Yu. Playable character to a T.

“Oh, like sensei!”

“Uh, not exactly.” Yosuke corrected.

“No, he’s right.” Yu said and, yeah, k’now what, Yosuke didn’t have much evidence to the contrary. He didn’t have much evidence about Yu period. But he, looking down at the now barefooted Mayumi in his arms, knew now was not the time for questions.

\---

Yosuke was definitely happy to unequip the unflattering glasses as they found themselves where they had come from. Yu negotiated their exit with Teddie who not only was capable of doing that somehow but also more than willing to make an extra large TV they could safely carry Mayumi through.

“Are you coming with us Teddie?” Yosuke asked. It didn’t feel right to leave the poor bear in this place.

“I didn’t think of that! Hmmm, I think I need to stay here. What if other beauties end up in here? They’re going to need a big strong bear to guide them out!” Teddie answered cheerfully.

“That’s the spirit Teddie!” Yu said. Yosuke was wondering where the word “strong” had come from because Teddie was full of hot air. Literally.

“If you find anyone don’t hesitate to come through the TV and ask everyone you meet to go find Yosuke. Bye!” Yu added. Yosuke blanched at the thought of what people would think of a mysterious mascot asking for him but nevertheless walked through the TV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! This chapter was the most trouble to write so far what with the action, the dialogue of the boss, and the ~*symbolism*~. I originally wrote some dialogue between Mayumi and her Shadow but it just didn't work out. Sorry if you were looking forward to that. Oh, and here's [how Yu and Yosuke are carrying Mayumi](https://64.media.tumblr.com/b0f20231406966173e9db291b154d286/650178231471c54e-a7/s500x750/73ae533fbd27374883c6b3b02ccf2dea57f0bcda.png). Please let me know if there's any problems of any kind like grammar/formatting/dialogue/etc. I have more written out that I will be editing and posting. A beta reader (18+ only please since I am an adult) would also be super cool so drop by my tumblr @ joniness.tumblr.com if you're interested.


	4. Chapter 4

“What the HELL?!” Was the first thing Yosuke heard stepping onto the tiled floor of the Junes electronics department, Mayumi still in tow and Yu halfway through himself. He turned to the side and almost dropped the poor woman in his arms upon the sight of Saki, standing there in her disheveled Junes apron, shocked. She had a look on her face that immediately sank Yosuke’s stomach. Yosuke felt Yu behind him stop in his tracks.

“Hana-chan?... Hana-chan, what’s going on?” Saki asked slowly. Yosuke froze, tongue tied. A million different responses flashed by in his head. Saki’s face somehow grew more concerned. Shit! He had to say something!

“I uh-” He stammered.

“Yosuke, lets set her down first. Then we’ll explain.” Interrupted Yu from behind.

“Who is that woman? Is she unconscious?” Saki questioned, voice wavering. Yosuke, not knowing what else to do, lowered Mayumi’s legs gently to the ground. Saki took an uncertain step forward.

“Saki, call 119. This woman is seriously hurt.” Yu ordered from behind as he settled Mayumi down.

“I-I don’t have a cellphone.” Saki said.

“Use the store phone and.. Don’t tell them your name.” Yu answered quickly.

“Why?” Saki asked, a note of panic creeping into her voice. She did, however, move backwards to the phone they kept in the electronics department if they needed to contact the manager.

“For your safety…” Yu said. Saki visibly shrunk back.

“Saki, don’t misunderstand, we helped this woman. And.. I can’t really stop you from telling them but please don’t tell them we saved her. Please, trust me.. We’ll tell you everything I promise.” Yu corrected, his voice strained. Saki, with visible effort, nodded. Yosuke just stood there as she called 119, and for the 3rd time that night felt extremely useless.

\---

Yosuke, flummoxed, didn’t know how Yu managed to convince her but Saki did the report anonymously just as requested.

“We have to get out of here, fast.” Yu said as soon as she hung up the phone.

“But- Mayumi…” Yosuke protested.

“We can’t do anything more to help her and more than her life will be at stake if we stay.” Yu responded flintily.

“Yu-” Yosuke began.

“Hana-chan, lets go.” Saki said, surprising everyone, including herself. She turned around and walked out quickly, shucking her apron as she went. Yosuke hesitated only a moment to look at Mayumi before following, Yu in step behind him. They all rushed out of the storefront and to the bicycle rack which was looking empty this late at night save for Yosuke’s piece of crap. Saki arrived first and watched them approach and unlock the bike with an implacable expression.

“We’re going to the gazebo to talk.” She said, already turning away again. There were still people around loading groceries in their cars so as much as Yosuke wanted to explain now it made sense to move to an area less likely to be overheard. Yu merely nodded at this and followed, this time walking the bike instead of riding it. They headed to the gazebo in a terse single file line. The gnawing sensation in Yosuke’s stomach only got worse as he kicked himself for not walking ahead so he could at least look back and check their faces. They also picked up the pace upon hearing police sirens.  
The floodplain road looked eerie with the combo of night and fog so thick he could barely make out Yu who was right in front of him. It was possibly because of that that it took him a while to notice Yu was flagging.

“Yu…” He said, voice pitched down to not alert Saki. Yu didn’t respond, just kept mechanically putting one foot down in front of the other.

“Yu?” He said a little louder. Yu still didn’t notice.

“...Partner?” He tried. That got Yu’s attention.

“Do you.. Want me to take the bike?” Yosuke asked, gesturing at the object in question.

“...It’s what’s keeping me upright.” Yu stated. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

Saki took a seat primly at the gazebo. Yu let go of the bike abruptly, uncaring as it crashed to the ground, and staggered onto the bench. If Yosuke wasn’t so worried for him he’d be offended at that moment. His bike was a hunk of junk but it was HIS hunk of junk. He walked around the bike and took a seat as well.

“What’s your last name?” Asked Saki as soon as everyone had settled. And by everyone Yosuke meant Yu, who decided to hunch over facedown on the table.

“Narukami.” Yu grunted from under his arms.

“How did you guys come out of the TV?” Saki definitely got straight to the point when she needed to be.

“I have… access to another world. I entered it with Yosuke earlier today.”

“Another world?”

“It’s like, a world overlaid onto our own world that people can see and enter only under specific circumstances.” Now, this was new information to Yosuke.

“And your circumstances?” Saki pressed.

“I am a psychic.” There was that weird answer again, Yosuke thought. Honestly, what did being a psychic have to do with being able to enter another world? 

“What does a psychic have to do with Hana-chan?” She asked. It was another question Yosuke really wanted to know the answer to.

“I needed help and my visions told me he’d be the right person for the job. I think you know how dependable a guy Yosuke can be.” Yu answered like he was saying water was wet instead of complimenting Yosuke.

“Ah, yes. Hana-chan is always watching out for me at work.” Saki said, for the first time that evening she sounded warm. The “dependable guy” felt his face flush. This was not how he expected this to go.

“Anyway, I took Yosuke into the TV world-that’s what it’s called by the way- because I had a vision that Mayumi Yamano was pushed into the TV. There are monsters in the TV world that could have killed her.” Yu continued.

“Who would do that?” Saki asked, warmth gone.

“...Adachi Tohru.” Yu trailed off. Saki pondered that for a moment.

“That doesn’t surprise me to be honest.” She eventually said.

“What, really?!” Yosuke blurted out.

“He’s always giving me weird looks when he comes by the store. He’s been a real creep ever since he moved here.” Saki answered. 

“Am I really the only one here who didn’t think Adachi was some kind of psycho?” Yosuke asked. No one answered him.

“There’s another thing you need to know, Saki.” Yu said, raising his head from his arms to look at Saki gravely.

“What is it?” Saki asked.

“I had a vision that Adachi pushed you into the TV world and… you died. He murdered you.” Yu said. He broke eye contact as he nearly whispered her possible fate. He looked ashamed and lay his head between his arms again. Saki closed her eyes tightly and folded her arms. She took a deep breath. So this was what Yu wanted to tell him about Saki, thought Yosuke.

“Could you tell when that happens?” She requested with no small effort.

“April 14th.” Yu answered. Saki sucked in a sharp breath. That was only a few days from now.

“But, that only happened because you originally found Mayumi Yamano’s corpse-” Yu explained quickly after hearing her tone. “They brought you in to be interrogated and, well, Adachi was the interrogator.” Saki didn’t seem particularly relieved. They all sat there digesting that info. Yosuke grit his teeth, he somewhat irrationally wished that Saki had told him about Adachi’s behavior, maybe if he had known then they wouldn’t be in this situation.

“What can I do?” Saki asked, interrupting the silence. Yu did not respond.

“The events changed so maybe you don’t have to do anything! Well, other than avoid Adachi I guess.” Yosuke said, picking up the slack. Saki didn’t look convinced.

“Do you have any other visions we should know about Narukami-san?” She prompted. Yu once again did not respond. Yosuke nudged him, no movement.

“Narukami-san?” Saki nudged him too. Yosuke gingerly moved his head. He was still breathing.

“He must have fallen asleep.” Yosuke felt like kicking himself for stating something so obvious.

“He said there were monsters in the TV world, what’s all that about?” Saki turned this time to ask Yosuke. He had the feeling he was going to be at this gazebo for a long time.

\---

After Yosuke explained everything he knew and even things he merely speculated on did Saki finally relent. His ass was starting to hurt from sitting at the hard wooden bench for so long. He wondered how tired Yu had to be to fall asleep here surrounded by misty fog, on a cold bench, and flanked by people that REALLY wanted to talk to him. God, he can’t believe there was even a scenario in which he didn’t want to talk to Saki anymore but he was So Damn Tired.

“I should call his uncle to pick him up, it’s really late now.” Yosuke said, thanking himself for coming up with a clever excuse to end this situation.

“Oh no, you’re right. My parents are going to be so mad. Uh, I’ll talk to you later Hana-chan!” Saki said, scrambling to her feet and making sure she had her things in order. She was still clutching her apron which she had been using as a hand warmer for the past however long.

“Wait, do you need a walk home? It’s really dark.” Yosuke asked. Saki paused.

“You don’t have to worry about that in Inaba...” She started lightheartedly before absorbing what she was actually saying. “...He’s probably at Junes right now investigating the crime scene. I think I’ll be fine Hana-chan. Besides, you need to get your friend home. I appreciate the offer though. Goodbye.” And with that she made a hasty retreat. Yosuke couldn’t just leave his unconscious (friend?...partner?) behind so he watched her disappear into the fog before turning his attention to finding Yu’s cell phone.  
Surprisingly, Yu didn’t have a lock on his cell so it was easy to just flip it open, click the contacts button and select “Uncle” from the list. It was not a very long list. The phone rang once. Twice. Three times-just when Yosuke was starting to lose his nerve Dojima picked up.

“Yu, I’m in the middle of an incident-” Dojima began. Oh, right, Dojima was probably investigating Junes too.

“H-hi it’s me Yosuke. Yu fell asleep and we can’t wake him up so I need someone to come get him.” Yosuke stammered, the scenario seeming even more absurd to him as he forced out each word.

“Huh? The train ride couldn’t have been that tiring could it?” Dojima sighed. “I can’t leave what I’m doing right now so I’m going to send my assistant. HEY! ADACHI!” Dojima bellowed. Yosuke almost dropped the phone.

“W-wait my mom’s calling I think she’s going to give us a ride hahaha you don’t have to get Adachi. Sorry to bother you, BYE!” Yosuke hung up. He took a page out of Yu’s book and buried his face in his arms on the table too. Now what was he going to do? He was exhausted, the police were going to investigate something he got involved in, he doesn’t even know if the woman he saved today is ok, his crush could be murdered tomorrow, his dad is probably dealing with the fallout that happens from a major store incident such as an attempted murder and he is now responsible for an unconscious weirdo psychic guy whos acting like he’s his best friend. Well, since things couldn’t get any worse… He pulled out his own phone this time.

“Hey Miss Satonaka, are your parents up?”

\---

“Whoa, Yosuke, you look dead, did your city-boy friend beat you up?!” Chie asked as soon as she got close enough to the gazebo.

“Please, Chie, I can’t deal with this right now.”

“This is him? He’s kind of handsome. You didn’t tell me you had such a handsome guy as your friend!” Chie said as she started gathering up Yu.

“If I had you would have aggressively shoved him at Yukiko.” He sighed. Chie could be overbearing in her friendship with the aloof beauty of the school. On the other hand, the Amagi challenge did seem to make it difficult for Yukiko to get close to a guy so she could probably use all the help she could get.

“I would not! HUP!” Chie grunted as she lifted Yu into a princess carry. Yosuke’s heart hurt a little for Yu’s manly pride... and at his own, she hadn’t even asked him to help! Not that he could have with how sore he was but he wasn’t about to tell her that. She wasn’t even visibly straining to carry a guy 1.5x her size.

“Do you need a ride home too?” Chie asked.

“I can’t just leave my bike here.” He indicated his bike. Chie looked at the crumpled heap of metal on the ground dubiously before turning away.

“Alriiiight but you owe me so hard after this!” She said over her shoulder as she ferried Yu to the car. Yosuke grimaced audibly causing Chie to chuckle. He watched her load Yu in the car.

“Oh and I need Trial of the Dragon back tomorrow. You can hand it over at Souzai Daigaku! Seeya!” She added before closing the door. Yosuke mentally deducted his next 3 paychecks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Saki and Chie! The moment I realized I could just... have Saki see them carry Mayumi out of the TV was such a brain blast. Also, I love writing Yosuke and Chie's antagonistic friendship. Please let me know if there's any problems of any kind like grammar/formatting/dialogue/etc. I have more written out that I will be editing and posting.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

April 12 2011

7:30 AM **dont bring ur bike 2 school 2day**

Yosuke wasn’t sure what that had to do with preventing Saki’s murder but OK.

He rushed to get his stuff together because he’d be walking that morning. Neither of his parents were in the house. His father was no doubt already managing the disaster at the store and his mother had gone to visit relatives back in the city. He couldn’t come because his father needed the extra help at the Junes. He scarfed down a meal his mother had already prepared for him in the fridge. He hadn’t eaten since his break yesterday and had been too exhausted last night to do anything but stagger into bed with his clothes on. Luckily he had another uniform to change into.

He was greeted by more fog upon opening the door. It was really weird to have this much fog in early spring and it queasily brought up the events of last night. It would be easy to dismiss them as a dream if he hadn’t found the misshapen eye-wear in his pocket. It was as he was debating texting Yu back that Saki walked up to join him.

“Hey Hana-chan!” She greeted. Yosuke nearly dropped his phone. Saki had never gone out of her way to talk to him at anywhere other than work before.

“Oh! Hey Saki-senpai! What’s up?” He said. She looked so composed that he almost couldn’t believe that she had a target on her back.

“Nothing much. Are you working today?” She asked, scanning the area for other people.

“No.. well as long as no one calls in sick today.” He answered.

“Then I’m not going to work today.” She said looking pointedly over her shoulder as some loud guys with Yasogami High uniforms started walking behind them.

“Oh yeah.. I mean.. That makes sense.” They walked in silence until almost the main gates before Saki spoke up again.

“Can you meet me at the gate after school and walk me home?” She asked, her expression this time looking so glum Yosuke felt bad that his heart skipped a beat.

“Yeah, of course.” He agreed, attempting a smile to reassure her. If Saki’s weak smile in return looked anything like his then the reassurance was a failure. She walked ahead without a word.

\---

Yosuke entered the classroom and immediately noticed all conversation died down. Great. They were talking about him. Yukiko didn’t even look up from her book as he walked past her so at least she wasn’t participating. He checked his number again and took his assigned seat as the surrounding classmates changed the topic.

“Talk about bad luck… The homeroom teacher here is Morooka, isn’t it?” Said a guy sitting to the side of him. That wasn’t good news. Even Yosuke had heard the endless complaints about this teacher.

“Yeah, it’s King Moron alright… We get to enjoy his long-ass sermons everyday for a whole year…” Responded his friend. A girl walked up to join them.

“Hey you guys, I heard there’s going to be a transfer student from the city in this class.” She said excitedly.

“Huh? Really? A guy or a girl?” Asked the sitting boy. Yosuke didn’t have to be a psychic to know the transfer student was a guy. A particularly strange guy who somehow knew everything about him and could vanquish other-worldly creatures without batting an eye. Argh. So he’d have Morooka AND Yu to deal with this year? Lately, it was like the universe was conspiring against him to make his life complicated.

“Yosukeeeee I heard you walked to school with Saki today!” Chie said as she burst into the classroom. It was at that moment Yosuke realized in his haste this morning he forgot to bring Trial of the Dragon with him.

“Yeah, so?” He said as he attempted to keep his cool.

“Huh, so it wasn’t just a rumor?” Yukiko said with genuine confusion, looking up from her book as Chie came over to set her stuff down on the seat behind her.

“You don’t have to act so surprised!” There goes his cool.

“Did she see your friend beat you up and felt bad for you?” Chie asked. Yosuke’s headache from yesterday was threatening to come back.

“Yu did not beat me up! And no, there was another reason. I can’t really get into the details right now.” Yosuke grumbled.

“Oh, well you can be sure to tell me at Souzai over steak!” She said as another chilling realization came to Yosuke. He had agreed to walk Saki home after school after he had already made plans with Chie.

“Hey Chie, we’re going to have to-”

“Awright shut your traps!” The voice of Morooka commanded from the podium. Yosuke had already been warned by other gossiping students that this was his homeroom teacher but his rude voice was still jarring to hear.

“I’m Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward!” Like he’d even need to introduce himself, he must be aware of how infamous he is, thought Yosuke.

“First things first just ‘cause it’s spring doesn’t mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons! Long as I’m around, you students are going to be as pure as the driven snow!” It was hard to imagine any amorous thoughts when staring at Morooka’s horrible clashing tie suit combo. The man had no sense of style.

“I hate wasting my time but I’d better introduce the transfer student… If that city-boy loser had actually showed up today! The sad sack’s been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday’s garbage and his absence today proves that he’s just as much of a loser here as he was there.” Yosuke was disturbed to hear that Yu hadn’t made it to class today. He wasn’t that badly injured yesterday, was he? Morooka, as if sensing blood in the water upon scanning the class and seeing Yosuke’s expression, continued.

“We already, worryingly enough, have a local floozy hitting on this loser city-boy here-” Morooka pointed his finger at Yosuke. “So don’t get any ideas about hitting on the transfer student.”

“...Don’t talk about Saki-senpai like that.” Yosuke let slip through gritted teeth. Oh, he’d said that out loud. The class held their breath.

“Hrnh… That’s it. You’re on my shit list, effective immediately.” Morooka said. Chie turned around in her seat to look at Yosuke sympathetically as Yosuke began to get the lecture of his life.

\---

“That’s all for today, normal lectures will start tomorrow.” Morooka concluded. Yosuke sighed internally. He managed to survive through the day but only just barely. As he was gathering his things Chie came to his desk.

“Did Saki-senpai see you the other day on the Midnight Channel?” She asked.

“The Midnight Channel?” He responded.

“Oh, you haven’t heard?”

“You and I both know you’re the only one who talks to me at school.” Yosuke stated. He wasn’t above using self-deprecating jokes when it came to Chie.

“Sheesh... OK, the rumor goes that if you look into a TV that’s switched off, alone, exactly at midnight on a rainy night that while you’re staring at your own image, another person will appear on the screen… And they say that person’s your soulmate!”

“What? For a second, I thought you were actually going to say something relevant to Saki-senpai… How can you get excited over such a childish urban legend like that?” He said.

“Childish, huh? You don’t believe it, do you?” She said, looking offended.

“Chie, I’m going to head straight to the inn today.” Yukiko cut in.

“Huh, you don’t usually work today, what happened?” Chie asked.

“There was an incident with one of the guests. I can’t say more here.” Yukiko said, not too subtly looking at the eavesdropping guys near the window with one of her piercing stares.

“Ok, stay safe! Call me about it later alright?” Chie said with a warmth she always reserved only for Yukiko. Yukiko nodded and Chie watched her go with a fond expression. Yosuke snorted.

“What’s so funny?” Chie said, tension already crawling into her voice. She always seemed to have a 6th sense to even the most mild form of Yosuke hostility.

“Rather than Saki-senpai seeing me in the Midnight Channel don’t you think that it’s more likely you saw Yukiko in there?” Yosuke pointed out.

“You…” Chie said, in the most derogatory way possible in the Japanese language. Yosuke, apparently, was a real glutton for punishment today.

\---

Yosuke didn’t think the kick to the nads was necessary even though he did forget to bring Trial of the Dragon, questioned Chie’s sexuality, made plans with another person after he had already promised her steak today and still majorly owed her for helping Yu get home yesterday.

“Since Saki-senpai asked. I will allow you to walk her home but tomorrow MUST be steak time.” Chie said, like that was a generous offer Yosuke was lucky to have. Yosuke didn’t feel like arguing when Chie had already shown him that his family jewels were on the line. He had only just managed to stop limping.

“Ok, Ok I got it…” He said as they walked out of the building. Chie opened her mouth, probably to make another demand but didn’t say anything as there appeared to be a commotion going on.

“What’s going on?” Said someone in the crowd.

“Is that a transfer student? I don’t recognize him.” Asked their friend.

Yosuke saw at the entrance there appeared to be three people at the center. One of them dressed in a uniform he couldn’t identify. He and Chie got closer, pushing past some gawking onlookers. Yosuke’s uncertainty only increased when he recognized Yukiko and the other person in a Yasogami high uniform.

“Please! Can I have your number?” Yu begged to a distinctly MALE student.

“What? Who are you?” The male student in the unknown uniform asked, creeped out. The onlookers exploded in chatter.

“Is he seriously asking a guy out at the main gate?” Said a short haired girl.

“Why is he doing that when Yukiko is right there?” Said a male student with glasses.

“Did he lose a bet?”

“I really want to hang out with you Mitsy.” Yu said, desperation leaking out of his voice. It sounded way too real to be a bet. Yosuke saw the male student in the unknown uniform suppress a shudder.

“F-fuck off!” He said before fleeing. The crowd went unusually silent for a beat.

“U-um, I’m sorry for dragging you into this…” Said Yukiko to Yu, then, finally realizing there were a lot of people around, she hung her head. Flustered. Chie’s alarm bells went up and she went to Yukiko’s side immediately.

“C’mon, let’s go. Everyone’s staring.” Chie grabbed Yukiko and Yu and they took off running. Yosuke watched, unsure if he should follow as the crowd gossiped. Forget psychic, Yu truly was an alien creature from another planet, he decided.

“Hana-chan… that was your friend wasn’t it?” Yosuke whipped around to see Saki stepping around the congregation to him.

“No! I mean… yeah… I’m not sure what was going on there.” He answered honestly. The people around him wouldn’t believe him even if he had denied that he was acquainted with the weird new transfer student.

“I saw it happen while I was waiting for you. That creepy kid went up to ask Yukiko out and Narukami-san came out of nowhere to hit on him.” She said as he followed her out of the gate to walk her home.

“Oh, that makes sense. He was doing it to protect Yukiko-san.” But did he really have to go about it that way? Thought Yosuke.

“He’s funny.” She laughed. Yosuke felt a little jealous.

“I’d do the same for you!” He declared.

“What, hit on a guy?”

“You know that’s not what I meant!”

\---

“Hey, Hana-chan… if it’s not too much trouble, can you come to get me tomorrow morning too?” Saki asked on the threshold to her modest home. She appeared to be inspecting some cracked white paint on the side of the house instead of looking directly at him.

The walk home with Saki had dispelled any worries for Yosuke about being associated with the weird new transfer student. Yosuke was on cloud nine. The events of last night, horrible as they were, had somehow brought him closer than he had ever imagined to Saki. It was hard to try to keep his excitement off his face when he agreed.

“Yeah, sure. Not a bother at all!”

“Thank you, Hana-chan. I’m going to try to see if I can convince my parents to give me my cell phone back so I’ll give you my number as well.” She said, handing Yosuke a slip of paper. He struggled to school the glee off his expression as their fingertips touched.

“Huh, they took your cell phone away? What happened?” She had mentioned she didn’t have one in Junes last night.

“Nothing! I mean, they said I was on it too much. Texting people.” Saki answered quickly. Yosuke had never had that problem himself (except for that one breakroom flub) but he nodded regardless.

“Oh, that makes sense. Man, parents just don’t get technology do they? My dad hardly knows how a mouse works, the other day he-”

“You should probably get going, Hana-chan. I don’t want people talking more than they already are about us.” Saki interrupted, already opening her door. She had another uncomfortable expression that made Yosuke feel guilty again.

“Fair enough. Stay safe, ok?”

“Yeah, I will.” She said, and closed the door. Yosuke felt a tight bundle of emotions as he stared down at the note with her number. He pulled out his phone to add her contact just as it started ringing. He hastily clicked the answer button. It was his dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys can have little a Chie/Yukiko, as a treat.
> 
> We have caught up with what I have written that can be posted so far. Thanks for all the feedback everyone, this fic has become such a source of joy for me and we haven't even gotten to the parts that I'm really excited to write yet! Let me know if there's any problems of any kind like grammar/formatting/dialogue/etc.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> During quarantine I have found myself watching a lot of speed runs and it became extremely interesting to think about how other characters in the world think of what's happening as the player character sequence breaks and rushes through dialogue. This fic was born from that inspiration (Yu is not actually speed running btw he's just... efficient). I know that this Yu is different from canon Yu but since he is a player character I took liberties with his personality. I hope you like him! I'm also looking for feedback so let me know if there's any problems of any kind like grammar/formatting/dialogue/etc. I have more of this that I will be posting as I edit the chapters (PS if you want to beta this I'd really appreciate it, you can find me on tumblr @ joniness.tumblr.com)  
> Also, I might change the title, idk, let me know lol.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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